Quick answer: Most debt settlement firms run one of four kinds of system. All-in-one platforms built for the industry (Forth, formerly DebtPayPro, and Shape) bundle CRM, dialer and payments and are the fastest way for a firm under about 25 staff to get running. Case-management tools (LeadTrac from National Data Systems) suit servicing and law-firm models. Salesforce-native products (NuDebt) give a small firm a Salesforce org without a build. And a platform approach, Salesforce for enrollment, servicing and settlements with HubSpot in front for lead capture, suits firms with 25 to 500 staff that need their own data model, integrations and reporting. The largest firms in the industry already run Salesforce.
Whatever the product, a debt settlement system has to do six things. It has to carry a client from first call to enrollment, with a credit pull and a program calculator. It has to schedule client deposits and keep a ledger of every draft, fee, settlement payment and reversal that reconciles with the dedicated account processor. It has to track each enrolled debt through negotiation and settlement. It has to run the dialer, SMS and email with consent and do-not-call rules. It has to keep the compliance record: disclosures, consents, call records and fee timing, now for five years under the 2024 Telemarketing Sales Rule amendments. And it has to report across all of that.
The products differ in how much of this they do natively, how much they bolt on, and how much you can change.
Forth has been the industry's default since 2009. It sells an all-in-one: Forth CRM for sales automation, marketing, servicing and developer tools, plus Forth Pay, its own dedicated account processor with a creditor portal and payment network. It is accredited by the industry trade group (now the Association for Consumer Debt Relief) and reports more than $8 billion settled through the platform.
What it does well: a firm can be live quickly with CRM, payments and creditor connectivity from one vendor, and the settlement workflows are already shaped for the industry. Where it runs out: customization is bounded by the product, reporting is the vendor's reporting, and the payments relationship is bundled with the software. G2 and Capterra both carry "DebtPayPro alternatives" pages, which tells you switching intent exists.
Shape positions itself as the all-in-one debt settlement CRM with speed to lead at the center: routing by debt amount, a built-in power dialer, native integrations with lead vendors, and DNC, TCPA and 10DLC compliance presented as built in rather than bolted on. It currently ranks first on Google for the phrase "debt settlement CRM."
What it does well: enrollment floors that live and die on lead response time. Where it runs out: the same place every all-in-one does, when a firm wants a data model, an integration or a report the vendor did not anticipate.
LeadTrac is a web-based case management system used by debt settlement firms and the law firms that service programs for them. It is strong on settlement management and audit trails and lighter on marketing and sales automation. Firms often pair it with a separate sales CRM, which is exactly the two-system setup that creates swivel-chair work and reconciliation errors.
NuDebt is the one debt settlement product built on the Salesforce platform. It gives a small firm Salesforce licenses plus a pre-built settlement data model at a low per-user price, and it interfaces with multiple payment processors. It is a reasonable way to be on Salesforce without a build. Firms outgrow it when they need their own objects, automation and integrations, at which point they are effectively re-implementing.
The platform approach builds the six functions above on Salesforce Sales Cloud and Service Cloud with a custom finance and settlement layer, and connects the processor, bureaus, dialer, e-signature and SMS the firm already uses. HubSpot usually sits in front for lead capture, affiliate attribution and marketing, routing leads into Salesforce in real time. National Debt Relief, the largest firm in the sector, is hiring Salesforce architects and developers, and the national firms we have worked with run Salesforce as well.
What it does well: the firm owns its data model, reporting and roadmap, including lending products alongside settlement and AI on top of clean data. Compliance controls can be designed into the model rather than configured as settings. Where it runs out: it is an implementation, not a subscription. It needs a partner that has built for the vertical, a phased plan so seats are bought when they can be used, and an admin or managed-services arrangement afterward.
We have done this twice. A national debt resolution firm with 250 or more employees moved Sales, Service and Settlements onto Salesforce in 90 days from the first go-live, with 12 or more integrations including real-time account provisioning and hourly reconciliation with Global Holdings (case study). A second firm's platform, with a debt calculator, draft scheduling, transaction and credit item ledgers and settlement schedules, is in delivery now (what the screens look like).
| Question | Forth | Shape | LeadTrac | NuDebt | Salesforce + HubSpot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who it fits | Firms wanting CRM and payments from one vendor | Enrollment-heavy firms focused on speed to lead | Servicing and law-firm models | Small firms wanting Salesforce without a build | Firms with 25 to 500 staff that need their own model and integrations |
| Payments | Bundled (Forth Pay) | Integrations | Integrations | Multiple processors | Your processor via API (Global Holdings, RAM, CFTPay, Forth Pay) |
| Dialer and SMS | Included or integrated | Built-in power dialer | Integrated | Integrated | NICE CXone, RingCentral, Twilio, Sinch and others |
| Customization | Within the product | Within the product | Within the product | Salesforce config, limited by the package | Full: objects, automation, components |
| Lending alongside settlement | Limited | Limited | No | Limited | Yes, on the same client record |
| Time to live | Weeks | Weeks | Weeks | Weeks | Months, phased by team |
| Ongoing cost shape | Subscription plus payments | Subscription | Subscription | Low per-user subscription | Licenses plus implementation and support |
Three questions settle most of it. How many people will be in the system in two years, including affiliates? Under 25, an all-in-one or NuDebt is usually right. Over 25, the cost of working around a product starts to exceed the cost of building. Second, will you add consolidation lending, a client portal or AI? If yes, you want a platform you control. Third, who will own the system? If nobody internal will, an all-in-one with vendor support is honest; if you have or will hire an admin, or you want managed services, Salesforce is workable.
One more: do not buy Salesforce seats for teams that cannot use them yet. The platform approach only pencils when the build is phased by team and the license order is planned with the Salesforce account team to match.
Mid-sized firms mostly run Forth (DebtPayPro), Shape, LeadTrac or Debtonator, often with a separate sales CRM and spreadsheets around them. The largest national firms run Salesforce.
For a firm under about 25 staff, usually yes. From 25 to 500 staff, Salesforce becomes the practical choice once the firm needs its own workflows, integrations and reporting, or wants to add lending or AI.
Yes. We have integrated Salesforce with Global Holdings for real-time account provisioning, draft scheduling, ad-hoc payments and hourly reconciliation. RAM, CFTPay and Forth Pay follow the same pattern through their APIs.
In front of the enrollment floor for lead capture, affiliate attribution and marketing, routing leads into Salesforce in real time. Smaller firms and counseling organizations can run the whole operation on HubSpot.
Phased builds typically run 12 to 24 weeks. The national firm in our case study was fully unified 90 days after its first go-live, with the service team live first and negotiations and settlements second.
Sources checked October 2026: Forth (setforth.com and debtpaypro.com), Shape (setshape.com/debt-settlement), LeadTrac on TrustRadius, NuDebt on Capterra, G2's DebtPayPro alternatives page, National Debt Relief's Salesforce Architect posting on iCIMS, and the FTC's 2024 Telemarketing Sales Rule amendments in the Federal Register. Vendor claims are the vendors' own.
Talk to a senior consultant about which option fits your firm, or read the Salesforce or HubSpot comparison for the platform decision.